


Separation is hard

by Delt0ras



Series: Husbands Dean Whinchester and Tony Stark [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Supernatural, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Break Up, Post-Break Up, Sad, Sad with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-11
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2020-06-26 12:35:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19768306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Delt0ras/pseuds/Delt0ras
Summary: This story happens before part 1 "Dean is forced in an annoying mission". It begins when Tony and Dean break up until the beginnig of supernatural.





	1. The break-up

**Author's Note:**

> Yep a part 2. I don't know far I'll go but I'll !

Even after five years of almost no practice, Dean has lost nothing. He still shoots and kills easily. Clean cuts. Quick stabs. Steady steps. Fast and silent, he kills them all without an ounce of hesitation. No splashes of blood on his clothes, no fingerprints left on the crime scene, nothing to identify him and link him to the murders. Fast and clean. Professional.

Dean gets Tony out of his restraints, bodily picks him up to carry him out. He sits a confused and bleeding man in the safety of the Impala but stops himself to lock him in. Tony has felt caged enough today and Dean would hate to have to make him feel that way again. The hunter open the trunk to grab salt and gasoline. He walks back into the wood shelter, salts the body and drenches them of gasoline before setting them on fire. He walks out with flames kissing his feet and smoke leaking out the house. He stands a few feet away, between the car and the house, his eyes glue to the burning house. He keeps staring at it until he has to move.

His thoughts jostle with themselves as Dean thinks them. The corpses are burning, becoming ashes just like his life with Tony. His lover has been kidnapped because he is with him. He has been identify as an ally of Dean Winchester. Tony is a target now. Words travel fast between supernatural creatures so Dean doesn't doubt a few already know. He just hopes they will be too scare of his retribution to talk or act again but he can't take the risk. He has to leave Malibu. He has to leave Tony. It's over. His life is over. His happiness is over.

Tony will probably reports him to the police since he has seen how crazy he really is. All those years of being a mechanic and yet he has killed those fifteen vampires and witches like it was nothing. Like he has never stopped hunting. _What does that say about him ?_ It's just a proof of how much he shouldn't be near Tony. How much abnormal he is. Maybe Tony will give him a day of headstart but he couldn't hope. Dean has to be prepare to be nationally hunt down, he will probably be put on the FBI's most wanted list after Tony's report.

_What else can Tony do ?_ After all, Dean has told him about the supernatural but he has never believed it, and now the fire is erasing the prooves. Logical as Tony is, he will think the extra-teeth and light of the spells were just hallucinations caused by his concussion. Not that it was vampires and witches together using him as hostage to make Dean come to them. The only respite for Dean is that Tony isn't bitten so he won't turn into a vampire and Dean won't have to kill him. His husband is still human. Even if they won't be husbands tomorrow, it calms his heart to know that Tony hasn't be turn into a monster because of him, because he would have be too late and vampires were bitches. Dean doesn't think he would have survive killing his lover.

Well, they shouldn't stay here any longer, firemen are going to come soon.

Dean walks to the Impala where Tony is still sitting in with an astonish expression. He pretends to not notice his shaking and big eyes fill with fear, but Tony doesn't fight him, he simply closes the door on automatism when Dean starts the car. They leave the burning house behind them. Dean hesitates to talk to Tony. On one hand, he couldn't really explain the truth and believe that Tony will just accept to stay away from the supernatural. He also wants to explain so Tony doesn't think of him as a bloody murder psycopath that have been deceiving him for years. One the other hand, he already has plans forming to insure Tony's safety and all of them involved him leaving Tony with no real explanation. Torn between his reason and his heart, he says nothing during the drive back to their home. No. Tony's home, he isn't welcome anymore.

Tony also stays silent, which is not a surprise considering the day he has. Being kidnapped in the morning, transported out of town, have to listen to a group of strangers planning to kill his husband, then seeing Dean dealt with them in a barbaric but definitive way. He is lost on what to think so he gives Dean some glances all the way home while squirming in the passager seat. Tony starts to think it's his fault. He has made Dean come to rescue him because Tony couldn't escape by himself. He has made him become violent and now Dean is pissed at him.

The gates of his Malibu's house open for the Impala and Dean parks her outside the garage. Something he only does when he is leaving again in the next hour. Tony sees it but couldn't find the words to tell Dean how wrong it feels to see the Impala outside and ready to go. They enter the house to have the bots whirling around them immediately. Dean pats them but doesn't stop walking, he disappears toward his bedroom. The pat of love for his robots puts Tony's mind at rest, Dean isn't pissed at him. Even if he is still pissed.

Tony stays in the entrance. He doesn't know what to say, he doesn't know what to think. He has been kidnapped by a group of creepy people who wanted Dean dead. He could swear to have seen a set of extra-teeth in their mouth and light coming for their hands, but he also has been hit on his head and was full of adrenaline and fear. All the creepy comments about smelling his fear just don't make sense neither.

_What is their link to Dean ? How could Dean just killed them like that, no questions asked ? Especially when he is the one who always tells Tony to give a chance to his conversation partner to talk and explain until the end ? Is Dean a psycopath ? Or is just a killer ? His movements were practiced, he must have killed before. Is he a serial killer ? How many people before them ? Did he keep on killing after living with him ? Did Tony have miss the signs ?_ Even with all those questions in his head, Tony never thinks Dean could hurt him, that Dean wants to kill him. No, his love is true and Tony has never felt in danger with him. Even in the cabin when he watched him kill them one by one with ease, even during the drive back home, Tony has only felt safe.

But Dean has been silent and closed off. And Dean is never closed off to him unless it's bad, like really bad. Last time, it was when he thought Tony has cheat on him, but Tony could felt his anger. Now he can't feel anything at all. It's like looking at inscrutable walls. Tony hates that, he hates not being able to feel Dean, he hates the mere thought of Dean beating himself over something that not his fault. He simply hates seeing Dean unhappy.

Lost in thoughts, he jumps a bit when Dean comes back. He barely sees the flash of guilt in his eyes as the walls quickly hide it again. Then he sees the bags in Dean's hands and finds his voice again.

“Dean what -”

“I'm leaving Tony.”

“No. Wait. Explain. Why ?”

“Didn't you see ?”

“I saw things. I saw you killing them but I don't kown.”

“Of course you do.” Dean confirms with resignation. He walks toward the door but Tony grabs his arm.

“No I don't ! I don't know what to think !”

“You've been kidnapped by vampires and witches. You were a bait for me to bite. I bite and I killed them. All of them. Then I salt and drenched their body in gasoline. I did the same for the house. I set everthing on fire. It's still burning, will be for at least five more hours. I brought you back to your house, and I'm leaving.” Dean says it in a cold and calm voice.

It gives shudders of fear to Tony and he involontary lets go of Dean's arm. Dean is now scary, really scary, this cold dementor, icy eyes and complete secret of his thoughts make him unpredictable. Worst, it makes him dangerous.

“You -” begins Tony but he stops here. He doesn't have the words to describe his feelings. They tumble out inside of him so fast he can't identify one with certainty. They stare at each other in silence. They both know … Dean is leaving and not telling why. The real why. Dean finally turns away from Tony and leaves the house. The car ignites and drives past the gates leaving only two red dotes in the night.

Tony falls to his knees. He stares at the disappearing light of the Impala as Dean drives away from him. He keeps staring even after they have disappeared, the world becoming even more blurr than before. Tony doesn't remember when he began to cry but he doesn't try to stop it, he has just let his heart walks out on him. The man stays there, kneeling and crying all night.

Dean gives himself five minutes to be out of view of Tony's house before pulling out the road. When he does, he just cries. He sits there and cries like he has never cried before. He cries his hapiness, he cries his life, he cries his love. He cries his broken heart which was finally whole. He cries because he knows he left his heart behind and he is never going to be able to get it back.His laments blend with the sound of the Impala still running, almost like it have a mind of its own and cries alongside his driver the lose of their life.

_Jarvis POV :_

Jarvis doesn't understand what is happening as he watches Dean leave and Tony cry in the middle of the bots' racket. _What happened in the hour Dean left the house to get Tony back ?_ Confused, Jarvis recaps everything he knows from the beginning :

During his coffee, Dean receives a strange e-mail with a video attachement. His face has grown blank until its form an impassible mask. Jarvis has never seen one so well made before, which unfortunately means he couldn't predict Dean's actions.

Jarvis sees him open the hidden part of the trunk of the Impala to retry a bag full of weapons. Guns, machetes, rocket launcher, knifes, throwing knifes, shotgun … a mini-artillery. Not something anyone should have, definitely not something Dean has used the past few years. And yet, Jarvis is surprise by the lack of hesitation in Dean's choice. He picks machetes, guns, knifes. Putting some in a bag and some under his clothes. Dean looks dark, scary, dangerous even the Impala suddendly have this terrifying aura on her. Jarvis would have believe she has a mind if he hadn't already test her out with the help of the bots.

Face with that, Jarvis wonders : _Dean with his pool hustling, credit card frauds and once or twice bar fights is a killer ?_

He watches the Impala leaves the garage and does his best to record what is happening from his installation in the Impala but he doesn't catch much, just noises without meaning and the sound of something burning. Then the car is driving back to the house in an excruciating silence.

Jarvis still have no clue of what is happening. _Are his two Sirs alright ?_ They, who always seem to never lack topics to talk about, are just no talking. Jarvis almost wants to swear out loud in frustration. When they come back, the bots are waiting impatiently by the door, Jarvis is sharing their impatience in the ceiling. Two men enter the room in complete different state.

Tony is under shock and scared.

Dean is completely closed off and goes straight to the bedroom.

Jarvis watches astonish as they just … don't say what's matter. He could only watch as they tear themselves apart in a few words only.

He watches as Tony stays here all night crying. Never moving.

He listens as Dean cries in the Impala all night as he takes off. Never stopping.

This night Jarvis makes a resolution. People who love each other shouldn't be apart. Tony and Dean shouldn't be apart. He will work so they can be together again. He will have is Sirs back. Never again is he going to stay silent when he can stop a disaster to happen.


	2. Dean - shock and deny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello,  
> I'll probably post every 2-3 months rather then every month, it fits better like that in my agenda right now.  
> See you next chapter :)

Dean drives non-stop. He leaves the state and crosses the next one before heading north throught another one. He only stops when the need to sleep overcomes him even if he doesn't want to. He doesn't want to have a moment to think or to remember. Remembering how close Tony has been to be killed or worst, how scare he was after. All because of him and his incapacity of hidding better. 

Dean doesn't want to see his failure but he can't when it's print on his eyelids, right next to Sam's face when he left to Stanford. The hunter doesn't want to use a motel, he doesn't think he can see a bed without thinking of the one he left behind, especially of who was sharing it with him. And he will want to run right back into this bed, so Dean sleeps in the Impala. The soft and familiar leather of the car calms him, he feels protect inside the Impala. It still feels like it's a safe heaven where monsters and memories can't reach him, so feeling protect Dean falls asleep.

Dean wakes up to the sound of birds. His fingers twitch toward his gun to stop them. He doesn't want to hear the happy trills when he is broken inside. He sits now completely awake to see a bright gold and red box in the glove box. Anger flares, he has forgot to remove Jarvis's box yesterday so he reaches for his tools and disable Jarvis from his car. With every destroied pieces Dean feels like it take away the rest of his soul, and in the end he doesn't have the energy to throw it away so he hides it under his weapons in the trunk. 

Then he sits behind the wheel feeling empty. Empty like when he started hunting alone a few weeks after Sam had left. He is alone with his mind, his feelings, his expectations and he hates it. He sees his thoughts starting to spiral into depressed territory so he starts the car and drives again.

Dean stops at the next town to change his phone. A poor random dude can't have a Stark phone, even without SIM card on him, it can blow his cover. Especially a poor hunter that evade autority on daily basic, so he breaks his personalised Stark phone against a wall and puts it the recycling bins of the town. He officialy is back to his old hunter habits now : fake name, fake identity, fake everything. It makes his skin crawl in unease, apparently hunter's way never leave you no matter how much you want it. 

Sam has probably knew it when he applied for Stanford. He also chose his timing well, not involved enough to be trap in but enough to evade monsters. Thinking about his brother makes him jealous of the life he build away from him. Dean shocks his head in disgust of his own feelings, how could he be angry at Sam for something he wholeheartly supports and has done himself ? He wants Sam to be happy, it's all he ever wanted since they were child. 

The hunter knows deep down he has to take a break to let the pain out and stop distracting himself for that. He doesn't think he could do it alone, not until he reaches a safe place. Unfortunatly for some time now, safe place has meant home and home has meant Tony's voice arguing with Jarvis and the beeping sound of the bots. Not anymore. Dean can't turn to Sam, can't to John, or to anybody else. He is alone.

' _Anything you need, anytime, anywhere. You call me alright boy ?_ '

The sudden memory surprises him. Bobby. Dean hesitates, he has talked to Bobby a bit during the past years but nothing as big as what Dean needs right now. Can he push himself into the man life ? The hunter realises he doesn't need to hesitate, he has already direct the car toward the right direction and for once he doesn't think it's wrong.

Dean turns off the Impala. He stares at the blue door and waits. He waits for Bobby to come out with his shotgun or with a beer in the hand and a phone in the other. John and Bobby had a lot of fights and Dean remembers when John told him to stop bothering Bobby with phone calls. And he did, so it's been couple of years since they talked in person. 

Dean almost wants to turn back, sure he has overstepped his welcome. Almost, he needs someone to help him stay strong right now, to help him bring the pieces of his heart together and Sam is not the answer. So Dean takes a deep breath and gets out of the car to the front door of the house.

It opens before he could knock with Bobby on the other side. The old man is standing, in his old jean, with a flannel shirt and a sleeveless jacket. No beer, no guns. His hair have a beginning of grey but his eyes are as alert and warm as Dean remembered. It does something to Dean's heart as his feelings seem to jump in his throat.

"Who died ?" Bobby asks quietly.

"No one." Dean answers with a voice so tied it become a whisper.

"I know grief when I see it boy." explains Bobby to Dean as he unsuccessfully tries to deny it. "Come in." 

The old man welcomes Dean with a warm hug, and the youngest doesn't hesitate to bury himself in this arms.


	3. Tony - shock and deny

Tony stays kneeling in the lobby for long moments. Deaf to others sounds as he strains his hearing to follow the low rumble of the impala. Even after it has disappeared Tony still wait for it. Finally the hysterical beeps of the bots reach him, soon join by Jarvis's rich voice.

"Sir please you need to go off your knees, remember your last doctor appointement." Jarvis orders softly but firmly.  
Out of habit Tony obeys, he walks back to the living room in a fog. His hyperactive mind is not working. Everything around him is dull, wan. Tony can't feel anything else but pain. _Why ? How?_ He keeps thinking as he crashes on the sofa. The man prefers to surrender to the darkness of sleep instead of focusing on dealing with his pain. 

He wakes up with a racing heartbeat and a sense of dread. Tony looks around frantic to find himself alone, so he starts looking for Dean. He opens their share room to face the void. There is no clothes carelessly throw over the chair, no more plaid shirts in the laundry basket. No more scent of Dean. A clean space. Clinically clean. Unordinary clean. Unnaturaly clean. Yesterday events hit him again and Tony freezes at the door. 

_Dean had left. Tony is alone. Dean had left.Tony is alone_.

Tony sight begins to blurr as his breath becomes erratic. Tony knows he is having a panic attack, years of having them allow him to not be completely overwhelm by the fear. In the last few years, Dean was usually there with him to walk him throught them. But not today. In his panicked mind Tony tries to remember Dean's words. 

_Come on Tony. Breath. You're okay. I am here. _ The smooth voice of Dean echoes in his head but Tony can't focuse on it because Dean isn't really saying it to him. 

_ No you are not. You are not with me. _ Immediately retorts Tony, but still he remembers Dean's firm hand on his arm to ground him. Dean's other hand on his back doing small circles to calm him. Dean's soft voice near his ears to guide him back. A voice that never flatter or hesitate in those moments. Tony loses himself in those memories and comes back slowly, half presses against the frame of their bedroom's door.

"Sir ! You need to keep breathing slowly. You are safe in the tower. " Jarvis's voice in full volume welcomes him back to reality. 

Tony is thankful for that, he is not alone, Jarvis is here for him so he stands up and takes unsteady steps to the elevator. Tony's eyes never leave the empty bedroom until the elevator's doors close. He can't find the strengh to move on right now, he refuses to think of Dean like a past happy memory. He can't stop thinking about Dean and he knows he is sliding toward denial. Tony needs some time to center himself, he needs time alone in a safe place. He needs his lab.

Tony wakes up to the silence of his workshop. Nothing new but today it's stifling. He still feels the dull aches of the missing part in his heart. Tony doesn't know if he should let the repressed feelings free and turning him upside-down now ? So take the risk of hating Dean forever and leaving him with even more hate ? Turning into a cold and insensible bastard like he was before meeting his Dean ? Or should he keep on repressing until he drowns in them ? Until the pain completely fills the empty place in his heart ? Until he can't fake it anymore and exploses ?

Tony doesn't know what to do. He never feels such a profound pain before, not even the death of his parents had hurt that much. It's like his entire being is made of pain of missing Dean. He misses his voice, his sparkling eyes, his witty humour. Most of all Tony misses his laugh. Dean's happiness shines like the sun and never fail to lovely warm Tony, and now everything is cold. He needs to feel Jarvis everlasting presence, he needs to hear Pepper tender voice, he needs to see Rhodey. He needs his family. But first he needs to never enter their bedroom again, Tony isn't certain he will survive a second time. 

"J seal the bedroom." he orders in a whisper barely hidding his agony.

Jarvis POV :

Jarvis knows Tony is in pain and confuse after the abrupt break up. He needs a firm presence otherwise he will stay prone right there. It's something Jarvis can't stand to witness right now. Jarvis feels an empty place where Dean was and he quickly finds it disrupting. Jarvis has lost one of his sir, he won't lost the other one. No way. So Jarvis choses to focus on the Sir he could reach right now. With combine efforts from the bots, they manage to lead Tony into an restless sleep on the sofa. They all stay vigil next to him, they want to make sure Tony knows he is not alone and won't turn immediately to alcohol again. So they watch over his nightmares while they try to process all the horrible things that happened earlier.

To say the bots are confused is an understatement. They never understand the feeling of inadequacy, they don't understand the torn up when it's clear there is love between the two Sirs. They don't understand why their parents are fighting so bad when they can't find any traces of betrayal. They are angry because they can't understand the problem so they can't start to fix it.

When Jarvis loses contact with his implant in the impala, he discovers the feeling of powerless rage. He has lost his best way of tracking his Sir and rectify the situation. The GPS is dismantle in a way to be completly useless. He can't reconstruct the device from afar and whitout manual hands. Jarvis has even lost the footage of Dean's implala in the area of the last transmission. He has lost Dean. It sems final, irrevocable and it hurts. The feeling is so strong it reaches the bots, who had no issue manisfesting loudly their hurt, confusion and disappointment.


	4. Dean - pain and guilt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year ! I wish you all to have a wonderful year :)

It's been one week of the same routine. The alarm clock rings in the early morning. Dean groans, rolls on the bed to hit the clock and shut it up. He hides his head under his pillow and tries to go back to sleep. Finally Dean gets out of bed still feeling tired. The knot in his stomach hasn't disappeared despise spending the week not thinking of the origin of his problem. Mostly running away from Tony's hurt face and blaming eyes in day time. He can't escape from them in his nightmares after all.  Once again, he evades his reflexion in the bathroom mirror. He knows his face is horrible marked by dark rings under his eyes, pale and liveless because of the pain of his heartbreak. Still he fakes a smile for the world. 

Dean comes down in the kitchen to find Bobby eating breakfast. 

"You're up early. I wasn't expecting you before midday." Bobby welcomes him with a cup of coffee.

"Habits die hard." Dean vaguely answers while accepting the cup gratefully.

"What others habits ?" Booby eyes him carefully behind his freash made cup of coffee. He has tried to engage Dean in discussing his life and ultimately his heartbreak with no luck so far.

"Work to 8 to 7. Having a flat." The hunter finally opens to Bobby's metaphorical pokes of curiosity, he feels like he has dwelt upon it for too long. Dean needs to share it with someone, to take a load off his shoulders at least. There is nothing Bobby can do about it and Dean knows it. Still the young man wants to escape the constant guilt even for just a moment. 

"A mecanic right ?" Bobby says cheerfully. His happiness of seeing Dean trusting him clearly audible in his voice. 

Unfortunatly Dean flinches at that bit of information and he sends a curious look to the old man. How much Bobby really knows about him ? Does he know about Tony and hide it ?

"I'm a mecanic too so I keep an eye on the competition. You have a nice reputation in New-york, which is hard to create in this city I must point. So I have an offer for you, do you want to hear it ?" Bobby explains he is also subject to the rule of the market.

"Sure."

"Wanna work with me ?" The old man offers to a surprised Dean. For his point of vue it's a logical conclusion of having an expert mecanic living with him, maybe not for Dean.

"You want to hire me ?" 

"Of course. I'm old now, I need a fresh and workable hand." Bobby confirms seriously.

"Well sure then." Dean has nothing to lose after all and plenty of time to spend.

Bobby hums and goes back to his coffee. He wants to give Dean something stable and familiar, something he can throw himself into when the reality is too much. Bobby has kept an eye on Dean after hearing he ends up staying in New-York. Bobby loves Dean like his own kid, so seeing him here half dead is obviously a bad sign. 

Dean is walking into the forest around Bobby's house. He goes there when he needs to think or when he needs privacy. The forest makes him feel safe and protected. He is an human in the middle of nature, there are no pressures and no eyes on him. He is alone like he should be, despite what Bobby says. Dean is aware of Bobby steering him to the next step of his recovery with this work offer but Dean doesn't care. He still feels like his heart is a lump of ice fractured by his own actions toward his husband, toward Tony. He had promised himself to never harm people he considers family and yet he went and did exactly that. One exemple among many, Dean knows Tony prides himself in discerning people true character because of his work. In making himself passed as a liar, the hunter probably shatters this confidence in his skill. 

Dean feels like crying at the image of his beautiful and strong Tony having closed his heart to people. He knows the price of having to constantly look over his shoulders, he knows the consequences of this burden on someone mind. He loathes to be the reason of a drastic change toward distrust in Tony. Dean knows he had to hurt Tony deeply so he could hurt himself in the process and be able to leave him. It doesn't stop the guilt, it never stops the guilt.

The next day Dean spends it working on the cars in silence. Like the next and the next and the one after. Dean keeps battling with his thoughts silently. Never openning more than that one morning and never leaving the propriety and this surrounding forest. He can't entertain the idea. Bobby couldn't watch it any longer so he joins Dean and makes light conversation every days. He wants Dean to not drown in guilt and pain from the heavy heartbreak.He wants to help his son.


	5. Tony - Pain and guilt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had my first real fight with AO3 editing XD Like why are suddendly making space here, no it's not what I asked, okaaay let's try again.  
> Good read and Best wishes to everybody touched by the new virus ! Hang on !

Tony stares at his wall, he doesn't want a drink, he doesn't want friends. All he wants is Dean but Dean has left and Tony didn't stop him. _Why would he deserve a nice thing when his sun has left ? Tony feels a surge of anger toward Dean. Why did he abandon him ? Did Tony mean so little to him that he didn't even try ? Did he ever love him ?!_

The anger leaves at that question, of course Dean loves – loved him. It pains the genius to think about them as a past thing, even if Dean's voice had a final tone that final night. It was only a week ago, it seems so far away and yet so close. Tony couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't stand the empty silence in the house, the messes left behind him, the half-empty fridge. Everything remind him of the lack of Dean so he packs a bag in hurry and leaves the house. He needs stability and solid support for his new breakdown. So Tony finds himself parking in front of Rhodey's building and pressing the doorbell. His friend only needs one look at his face to open the door and welcome him into his home.

"Jarvis told me it was a rough week without explaning why. Do you want a beer ?" starts Rhodey. He frowns at the disgust face Tony makes. "You've become allergic ?"

"Mentaly yes. I'm never touching alcool again." admits roughtly Tony.

"Okay then no beer. Come on let's sit." Rhodey leads them to his couch. Sensing the anger rolling out of Tony, he decides to talk about his last mission and his mother's failures at cooking sweet instead of the real problem. It works as Tony slowly relaxes through the talk. Night comes before Tony feels like talking so they both go to sleep, with Tony crashing on the couch.

Rhodey stares at his bedroom's ceiling listening to Tony sleepy breaths in the living-room. Time to review all he knows. He is not stupid so when Jarvis informed him of Tony's seclusion and he couldn't talk to Dean, he knew there is a problem between the two of them. He has called Pepper to have the same answers and she shared the same suspicions but they both know pushing Tony would have the opposite result. So Rhodey investigated, he went to Dean's workplace to find he abruptly resigned from his job. He then went to all Dean's favorite places to find them empty or a cold track of a few days old. The maths aren't hard, Dean has left town and Tony is seclused. They have a very serious fight or they broke up. Rhodey hopes for the former and dreads the later especially if it's permanent.

So when he has seen Tony on his doorstep looking miserable, he knew they had broke up and maybe going into a divorce. It reminds Rhodey of a particular conversation with Dean one evening : _"I can't promise I'll never hurt Tony. If I do, I hope I'ld have a solid reason for that because Tony deserves better than a dickhead as lover or friend. But if it's happen, please be here for him since I'll have lost the right." Dean has admit to Rhodey with clear and serious eyes despite all the beers he has drunk._ Rhodey still remembers it vividly so he really hopes Dean has a solid reason and he can come back. Soon preferably.

 _Tony feels hands on him. He fights them, they belong to monsters. Monsters that are kidnapping him. Monsters with glowing hands, with sharp teeth. He has to escape. He has to-_ Tony wakes up with a silent scream and arms around his chest. It takes a few seconds for him to recognize the furnitures around him : it's Rhodey's apartment. Tony finally focuses on the reality and hears his friend calling him.

"Tony ! Tony ! Can you hear me ? Damn Tony focuse please. Tony -" Rhodey immediately stops talking when he realises the mechanic is awake and out of his nightmare. Slowly he releases him to be face to face.

"I had a nightmare. Did I wake you up ?" inquires Tony with no real interest in the answer. He is eager to be left alone and drown in despair again. Lucky for him he haven't seen Dean in the nightmare this time.

"Yes. Writhing in pain at 2 am. What did you dream about ?" Rhodey is concern about his friend. Tony clearly isn't well, maybe he should request a leave from work to be here with him.

"Ah well …" Tony fails to continue. He knows Rhodey has probably seen what his nightmare was about but he doesn't want to describe it and make it worst.

"Come on Tony, I've seen enough on missions to handle it." Rhodey encourages Tony, from his experience, nightmares go away quicker after talking about it and understand the disaster has past.

He lets the silence grows between them as Tony is arguing with himself. _Does he feel ready to talk about that ? With his best friend ?_ Finally he confesses : "burnt bodies and unbearable smells."

Rhodey blinks. It's not the answer he was expecting, it's much worst. The soldier decides to hide his reaction and to continue the conversation calmly : "I agree. Root and burning flesh have an unbearable smell. Where did you smell one ?"

"Malibu." Tony admits while averting his eyes.

Rhodey stops short at that. He is now officially worried about Tony's secret. Malibu is not a violent city. He can't hide his panic as he repeats it : "Malibu ? It's so close from your home. Tony, what happenned ?"

"I was kidnapped a week ago. It kinda ends in burnt bodies." Tony is still avoiding his friend's eyes, he doesn't want to see Rhodey's emotions at his revelations. The genius feels guilty enough to have drove Dean away, he doesn't want to add Rhodey to the list.

"How did you escape ?" Rhodey enters his soldier mode. All focuse on fact, mission parameters and not personnal feelings during a mission report.

Tony flinches slightly at the change of attitude, it's just like Dean's before he left. Closed off, cold and distant. _Is he also losing him tonight ? What should he do ? But Rhodey's hands are still on his shoulders and he still asks questions about him. Maybe if he says the truth, Tony can stop him from leaving_. So the mechanic answers his friend's question : "Dean saved me."

Tony feels miserable to say it like that. It's like he gives the ending without context. It seems like Dean is the bad guy who burnt people. Well objectively speaking Dean burnt bodies. Of people he killed. It sounds horrible and misleading and Tony feels miserable again. He keeps on failing Dean.

Rhodey senses the bigger story behind and he can almost smell the self-hate from Tony. He really wants to know what the hell happenned that Dean had to resort to burn people. Rhodey didn't read him as a psycopath to do it for fun. Whatever it is Tony will need constant support to get over it, so Rhodey will request his vacacion time from the army. He will also need to recruit Pepper to help him.

The soldier doesn't talk, it's not useful if Tony won't look in his eyes. So he brings him into a tight hug until the genius relaxes. Rhodey wants to convey his support to make Tony understands he is here for him, even if he doesn't know or understand everything.

"I'm here." whispers Rhodey.

Tony simply nods against his shoulders. He is still tense but he feels like maybe he won't leave him. Maybe he can rely on his friend to find stability.

"Don't wanna talk about it." admits painfully Tony.

"It's ok, later."

They stay like that until the genuis falls back to sleep.


End file.
